Eye-on-Retail Daily Tipsheet Archives

REI FORUM – REI workers tell their stories of low wages and erratic hours by Janet I. Tu at Seattle Times. “According to REI Employees for Real Change, the group that organized the forum, (REI) posted a memo to employees outlining the potential consequences of signing union cards. “REI management is not anti-union,” the memo says. “We just don’t need one at REI.”Read more

Prime Day 2016 kicks off with deals on TVs, Amazon devices by Nat Levy at GeekWire. “As the clock struck midnight, some of the first big deals included TVs, video games and consoles and headphones. Amazon offered discounts on many of its devices, including $50 off the Alexa-powered Echo, but customers weren’t biting initially. Most of those sales were less than 5 percent claimed in the first half hour.”Read more

Supervalu parts ways with top merchant by Nick Halter at Minneapolis/St.Paul Business Journal. “Supervalu Inc. is severing ties with its top merchant, Mark Van Buskirk….employment “will terminate” on Friday. Buskirk is the executive vice president of marketing, retail and pharmacy.”Read more

Burberry CEO Cedes CEO Post by Paul Jarvis & Francine Lacqua at Bloomberg. “Burberry Group Plc’s Christopher Bailey will hand his role as chief executive officer to industry veteran Marco Gobbetti and return to steering its creative direction, ending a two-year experiment to combine the positions that led to falling profits and slumping shares.”Read more

Bezos Beats Buffett as Amazon Market Value Tops Berkshire by David Wilson at Bloomberg.See the chart

The real test of Wal-Mart’s $2.7 billion wage investment is about to begin by Krystina Gustafson at CNBC.Read more

Former Walmart buyer joins Ahold USA by Tom Seaman at Undercurrent News. “US seafood sector veteran Beth Grant has a new job with supermarket chain Ahold USA, after leaving Walmart earlier this year…Grant said she is waiting for an exact title, but that her job will be in “merchandising/category management”.”Read more

**A message from Pirola Italy – Colorful, designer-inspired ironing boards add spice to any home. Exclusively made in Italy for 45 years, these high-quality boards bring design and excitement to the category. Featuring the Arco board from the Design Line and the Luna board from the Plus Line. Custom colors and designs available. Retailers request samples at info@shiftmarketinggroup.net.Italy-America new product connection

Michaels Launches National Loyalty Program “…customers will receive member-only offers tailored to their interests, receipt-free returns, access to exclusive in-store and partner experiences as well as advanced notice and preview shopping hours for special events, all without a point or purchase level requirement.”Read the release

Amazon has 63M U.S. Prime members — surpasses half of customer base for first time by Audrey Shi at Fortune. “Consumer Intelligence Research Partners estimates that Amazon counts 63 million Prime members among its shoppers—an increase of 19 million from last June.”Read more

Cuba Just Opened Its Own Communist Version of Costco via Fortune. “Shoppers at Zona+ said it already had an advantage on other stores because it was uncharacteristically well-stocked.”Read more

Venezuela Takes Over Kimberly Clark Plant After Company Halts Operations by Anatoly Kurmanaev at WSJ. “It doesn’t matter who’s running the factory,” said Henkel Garcia, director of the Caracas business consultancy Econometrica. “The bottom line is that there are no raw materials that anyone can afford to import.”Read more (subscription)

How this 91 year old hardware store in Manhattan survives against the big guys by Gary Stern at New York Business Journal. “…And the Warshaw brothers know where every nail, screwdriver and garbage bag is located. “I know where 99 percent of everything is. Yet, I can’t find the mayonnaise in my refrigerator at home,” Ed Warshaw quips.”Read more

COSTCO ‘BLOCKADE’ THREAT – ‘Tribe’ Created To Save Taxes Disrespects Indigenous Struggles by Liam Massaubi at HuffPo. “Then there was the part where Costco refused to honour the tax exemption, and Mikinak Chief Lise Brisebois threatened to set up a blockade at Costco with 200 members of her tribe to protest the “injustice,” claiming to take a page out of the Mohawk’s protest tactics. She insisted: “I just want to be respected. I’m not a savage. I’m an Indian.”Read more

Tipsheet Extra Stories

Former Macy’s employee pleads guilty in shipping scheme

Where’s Hoss? Site of TV’s ‘Bonanza’ on sale for $59 million (35 pics)

Martha Stewart thinks millennials are lazy

Bentonville’s Market District is getting a makeover thanks to a hefty investment from members of the Walton Family